Kindness and Care
by King of the Fallen
Summary: She was broken. He was forsaken. One kind act, one compassionate ear brought the two of them together. Brought them into an adventure they would never forget. Rated for swearing, sex, violence, gore, and Minaka like insanity. Most of which in later chapters.


Kindness and Care

Disclaimer: I king of the Fallen being of sound mind and body do hereby declare that I do NOT own Sekirei or any of its affiliated characters. I only own any OC characters and the plot of this story.

Oh and a special thanks to my Beta Windseeker Spirit (though a warning, this fucker likes to change his name at random times so I have no idea how long it will stay that way or what it will be next).

Key: "Talking"

'Thinking'

"Innerself"

"**Norito"**

"_**Music/Cell Ringtone"**_

"_Talking over raidio/Phone/Television"_

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Chapter 1: Meeting the Broken

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A young man quietly strode along a path enjoying the ambiance of the park he was currently in. The park at night time was always a relaxing experience. The trees lighted from underneath with a soft glow, the stars emerging through the gaps in the trees. Then there was the stunningly beautiful woman naked except for a bloodied button up shirt that barely covered her…hold the fuck up! Turning so quickly you could almost hear the bones cracking the young man did a double take.

The woman sat with one knee up to her face the other crossed at the ankle. Her hair was a light brown and cut choppily so it spiked messily around her shoulders. Her face was angular and regal with high cheekbones and light grey eyes. Her expression appeared as if she was always sleepy and her forehead had a red bird above a yin-yang symbol with four tomoe making a U formation around it. Her body was in every way as gorgeous as her face with a trim stomach and slim waist. Her breasts were roughly the same size as her head, perky and looked to be softer than satin and her ass was plump and pert. As mentioned before the only thing she was wearing was a bloodied button up shirt.

'The hell? No. I shouldn't get involved in this' he thought to himself as he shook his head and began to turn away.

"Why not? She obviously needs help. And you seem to be the only one whose giving her a second glance" said another voice, one the man was intimately familiar with. He narrowed his eyes as he responded.

'Why not, because she obviously doesn't want help. Otherwise she would be asking for it' he thought.

"Yeah right. Just like you when you had that look in your eyes. You wanted help, but your own inferiority complex made you think it was pointless. Hell from the looks of things she looks like she had it even worse than you. I mean, at least you have an independent streak a mile wide. She looks like she has a dependant personality, in other words SHE NEEDS HELP" the voice yelled back making the man cringe. He tried thinking of a rebuttal, but all he could draw was a blank as he looked at her again and realized the voice was right.

'FUCK! You know it's times like these I despise splitting my mind in two' he thought with a mental sigh as he walked over to the woman. He almost blushed as he took another look at her. She really was gorgeous. It surprised the hell out of him that she didn't have men tripping over themselves to try and help her, if only for their own perverted reasons. He swallowed the spit to try and wet his dry throat. Talking with girls was not something he did well, especially not pretty girls.

'No guts, no glory' he thought taking a deep breath as he stopped in front of her.

"Hey…do you need any help miss" he asked true concern lacing his voice. Just because he didn't intend to help, didn't mean he wasn't concerned for her. Had he not helped he probably would have just called the police and told them about a girl needing help.

"I am…broken. I am…unwanted" she said in a dead tone without looking at him, but he could still see her eyes and the despair within them made him shudder. It was too similar to his own, and yet fundamentally different. He felt the wind blow a chilly air around, signifying the return of fall. Looking at her again he took off his ankle length, black trench coat and placed it around her shoulders.

"It's getting pretty cold out, if you don't bundle up you'll get sick" he said.

The woman showed some emotion for the first time, a small bit of surprise, as the large garment fell onto her shoulders. She instinctively slipped her arms through the sleeves only to find that her hands were still three inches away from the cuffs. She was sure that if she were standing almost half a foot of the coat would be dragging on the ground. As it was she was swimming in it just sitting here. But she also felt something that she had never known before. She felt warmth.

She could feel the residual body heat from the man as it radiated into her skin from the lining of the coat, just as surely as her nose picked up a smell that could only come from the owner. She asked one question that to anyone else would have seemed unanswerable.

"Why?" To anyone else this one word would have meant any number of questions, but to the man it was easy enough to know exactly what she wanted to know. After all, he had gone through something similar, if nowhere near as bad.

"I'm not so good at talking, but I've been told I'm a great listener. If…if you want to tell me about your problems I'm all ears" he replied in a gentle tone. Many of those who knew him well would never believe he could sound so…caring. The woman looked at him for the first time and seemed to study his face, as if looking for some hint of deception. To her surprise there was none, only a sincerity she had never seen on another person's face. Nodding to herself she looked down again as he sat next to her on the bench, waiting for her to begin.

"My name is Akitsu, and I am…was known as Sekirei number seven…" and she began to tell him of her problems. Being force-fed medication by the fistfuls, the painful 'experiments', the rigorous tests, and most importantly, the event that made her what she called a discarded number. She spoke of an 'Ashikabi', a person she never met who was to be her husband, and how the two would bond together through a ritual known as 'winging'.

"…Now because of the mistakes he made I can never find my Ashikabi sama. I will be forever alone…broken…unwanted…scrapped…discarded" she finished. The whole time she spoke it was in that same dead tone. She had no idea why she had told all of this to a complete stranger, but something in her chest told her it was a good idea. It was almost unnoticeable, and nowhere near strong enough for her to identify what it was, but she could tell it wasn't bad.

The man sat back while blowing air out from his mouth as he combed his fingers through his hair. What he just learned from Akitsu was beyond disturbing. If he ever got his hands on the adjustors, as Akitsu called them, who worked on Akitsu for even a day he was going to kill them in the most brutal way imaginable. The kinds of shit they put her and her siblings through was the kind of stuff meant for horror movies. He pondered on what to do next.

'Ok, this shit is deeper than I ever expected. I thought it would simply have been a bad breakup, or maybe she saw her boyfriend die or something, but not the kind of shit that would make Jigsaw puke' he thought.

"Listen, fuck EVERYTHING I said before. Stand up and run as far away as fast as you can. This kind of shit is ten kinds of fucked up, and we do not want to get involved" replied the voice.

'We're already involved. Just her telling us the kind of shit she has will probably get us killed. I'm not running from here. I started helping her out, and I'm sure as hell going to finish it. Besides, you got me started on this, so now you have to reap the consequences. I get the feeling that helping her will be very important to someone in the future' he returned with a somewhat snarky tone.

"And just what are you basing this argument on" asked the voice.

'Instinct' he replied.

"Instinct? INSTINCT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GOD-DAMNED FUCKING MIND? WHAT GOOD IS INSTINCT," yelled the voice in anger.

'Instinct is the most useful thing I've got. It's what I am. Instinct would have kept me out of this mess, but you, Logic, just had to fuck me over with a rusty sledge hammer' he responded.

"Gah! I just had to be the secondary aspect when we decided to split! Fine Instinct, you can follow your feelings, but don't come crying to me when the shit hits the fan and you get a face full of it" Logic ranted as he once again receded into the depths of his subconscious.

'Love you too Logic' shot back Instinct as he turned to look at Akitsu.

During this little lapse in conversation Akitsu decided to actually take a good look at her companion. She could tell just from a glance that he was tall, most likely around 6'1" with a strong physique, built for speed, but with no deficiency in power. It was obvious that he took something very seriously to build a body like he had. His hair was raven black and seemed to spike naturally towards the back of his head, like a porcupine. It was fairly long reaching the midpoint of his shoulders (think Raditz hair style from DBZ only to the length mentioned). His face was rugged with a shaped goatee with stubble covering his cheeks and under his chin. He had eyes the same color as storm clouds just before a downpour, and they seemed to hold a similar 'calm before the storm' aura.

Despite the words he spoke to her earlier about the cold he himself didn't seem to be that concerned, as his cloths were not what one would expect for this kind of weather. He wore a simple black muscle shirt, tucked into the waist of a pair of dark grey cargo pants. There was a simple black belt across his waist pulled to the fourth notch. On his feet he wore a pair of black combat boots. On his hands he wore a pair of red and black fingerless gloves that had a strange crest on the backs. The crest looked to be a tree of life and death, surrounded by a tribal Uroburos. Just below it was a line of text that she didn't understand reading "Bàs roimh easonóir".

"All I can really say is holy fuck. What those sick bastards did was beyond disgusting. I…I want to help you, but there's not much I can do" he said bringing her out of her observation. She didn't show much of a reaction seeing as she didn't expect him to help at all. He stood up, stretching with several loud pops. They had been sitting there for over an hour and his back had been getting stiff.

Akitsu looked as he held out his hand. She felt sad, thinking he was just going to take his coat back and walk away leaving her here, alone once again. But he surprised her before she could move with what he said next.

"Come with me. It's not much but the least I can do is give you a place to keep warm and dry, with a few meals a day" he said with a small, almost unnoticeable smile on his face. She looked at his hand for a second, then two, before she took a hold of it. As soon as she did a heat started blossoming from her chest and she could feel her heart rate start to become erratic. It was the same feeling from earlier, intensified more than a hundred fold from what she felt before.

A voice cut through the night air bringing her back to reality.

"Well, aren't you a rare specimen. A discarded number, a Sekirei with no possible owner. You will make a perfect addition to my collection" said the voice from behind them. It was filled with arrogance and a pride that only came from being born into immense wealth. It spoke of assurance that nothing was out of his reach because of the amount of money he could throw around. It just plain pissed off the man.

"And just who the fuck are you to say something like that" asked the man with a calm look on his face. It was as if a blank mask were covering his features, making him the epitome of emotionless. He turned to look at the boy, for that is all he was, and saw two figures. The first one was almost as tall as him with messy silver chin length hair. His face was angular with grey eyes narrowed slightly as if scowling at him. He wore a black shirt that was open in the middle with what looked like black strips of fabric holding it semi closed. His pants were the same black as his shirt and clung to his legs. He wore an orange scarf around his neck.

The other was obviously the speaker. It was a small boy of possibly fifteen years old with light brown hair and eyes of the same color. He wore a white suit similar to the ones worn by nobility in recent times. He held the air of aristocracy that pissed him off to a great extent.

"Me, why I'm Hayato Mikogami, and this is my Sekirei, known as number 5 Mutsu. Who are you" asked the boy arrogantly as if the information he just gave would solve everything.

"I'm the guy you've pissed off, now fuck off before I show you why I'm not someone to be messed with" he replied with a dark tone that would send a shudder down the backs of hardened soldiers. It was apparent that Mutsu took exception to the tone however and decided to set him straight.

"You will not speak to Mikogami sama like that" he said drawing his sword to make his point.

"I talk to who I like how I like, and if they don't like it they can go fuck themselves" he replied. Mutsus' eyes narrowed as he lashed out with a slash. It happened so fast that any observer would have missed it. Mutsu was down on the ground convulsing in pain while Mikogami cried out in pain as a throwing knife was sticking out of his shoulder.

"If you don't want your master to bleed out I suggest getting him to a hospital. If you can get him there within the next ten minutes he should retain full use of his arm" said the man quickly as he scooped Akitsu up in his arms and ran. Mutsu struggled to his feet glaring, before scooping up Mikogami just as the man had Akitsu.

'You'll pay for that human' he thought as he ran to get to the hospital. It wouldn't do for his Ashikabi to die after all.

The man on the other hand had a small grin on his face as he ran towards the opposite end of the park. He loved putting little shits like them in their place. It wasn't a matter of pride however, just breaking another person's pride. After all, pride cometh before the fall.

Rounding a corner he grinned at what he saw. Sitting there waiting for him was his favorite mode of transportation. It was an all black 2013 Ducati MONSTER 1100 EVO crotch rocket. Usually only handling a 1078cc motor, this one had been modified with a 2300cc V6 motor, capable of reaching upwards of 300mph with few difficulties. That didn't include the added turbo of course. Yes it was a true monster, perfect for evading even the fastest of pursuers.

"Alright Akitsu, hold on. This is going to be a wild ride" he said as he jumped on the seat and kicked the engine to life. Setting Akitsu on his lap he twisted his wrist and shot off like a rocket. The g-force nearly plastering her to him as they picked up speed, easily breaking the limit as they shot past car after car.

The feeling that had begun welling up in Akitsu had skyrocketed as her body molded into his. She could feel just how hard the muscles in his body were as she held onto him. The light smell rolling off of him also seemed to make the heat in her chest rise even further. All the while she felt her body relaxing, despite the noise of the motor and the force currently being exerted onto her body. It only took a few more seconds before she surrendered to the call of sleep that she had been putting off for the last three days. Her grip never loosened, even as her head fell onto his shoulder.

Despite how large the city was it only took them fifteen minutes to reach the eastern end of the northern quadrant. Finally slowing down they approached a rather high end apartment complex. Stopping in a specific parking space the man looked down at his sleeping companion and chuckled picking her up once again as he stood off the bike to go inside.

"Oh Raiden san! There was a small problem with the heat and I needed to go into your apartment to fix it. I hope you don't mind. You keep it so dark in there" said a woman as she heard the man walk past her door.

"I take it everything is fixed" he asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, of course. If you don't mind me asking, who is your lady friend" she asked a little envy creeping into her voice.

"Just someone who needs help. From what she told me, there was a very bad breakup with her boyfriend" he answered preempting her next question.

"Oh, the poor dear. Please have a nice night and give her my condolences" she said with sincerity. He nodded with a smile and entered the apartment. It was spacious with little furniture, just a nice recliner chair and a small love seat. There was a decently sized TV perched upon a stand with a few fake plants on either side. There was a simple clock on the far wall and nothing else. The kitchen was just as bare of personal effects, containing a small fridge, a microwave, and a stove, along with a few cupboards. 'Raiden' moved passed all that to the other rooms. One was a bedroom with a simple full sized bed a dresser and a nightstand. Directly across from the bedroom was a bathroom, just a toilet and shower stall with a sink across from that. Finally at the end of the hall was a closed door, painted a matte black. The walls of the entire apartment were painted a midnight blue, with thick blackout curtains drawn across the sole window. It was as the landlady said, a very dark setup.

Entering the bedroom 'Raiden' gently set Akitsu on the bed. He pulled his coat off of her and carefully slid her body under the fleece covers. She shivered momentarily at the lost heat but she calmed as the fleece quickly warmed. He sighed and turned to walk back to the kitchen only to feel a tugging on his arm. He turned to see that Akitsu had grabbed his hand in her sleep and now held it in a death grip. He chuckled as it was clear she didn't want to be alone. Sitting on the bed next to her he gently started stroking her hair allowing her grip to loosen.

"Well, this will probably lead to an awkward morning" he whispered to himself. Shaking his head he knew that if he tried to walk away the same result would happen. So there was really only one solution he could think of. Pulling off his shirt and stripping to his boxers he slipped between the covers beside her. She immediately latched onto his side drawing him as close as she could, seeking out the source of warmth.

'Sleep well, little bird.'

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"I WANT HIM DEAD" shouted a voice in anger and pain. The owner of said voice being one Hayato Mikogami as his personal doctor finished wrapping bandages around his wound. The knife had done a good bit of damage to the muscle and even pinched the nerve in the arm a little. Mikogami would lose about 13% of the total movement in his arm, and what movement he did have would bring mild pain.

"I will begin seeking him out immediately Mikogami sama" Mutsu said with his head bowed. It was his greatest shame, his Ashikabi had been injured while under his protection and he himself had been rendered immobile long enough for it to happen. To rub salt in the wound it was all by a measly human. The worst of it all was the subtle warning the human had given him. He had been rendered immobile long enough for the man to kill them both at his leisure. They were alive due solely to his mercy. They were alive by his whim, and if he wished it they would die by his whim as well.

However this time Mutsu would be prepared. Last time the man had caught him off guard, due in part to his being a single digit as well as one of the original five. His own arrogance had worked against him, but this time he would be prepared.

"Good. I want you to bring me his head on a silver platter, and I want that discarded number, even if you have to beat her into submission to do it" Mikogami ordered, his voice dropping in volume as the pain killers started to take effect and he began to feel sleepy.

"As you command Mikogami sama" replied Mutsu as his ashikabi fell into the realm of Morpheus.

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"_**My little pony, my little pony…"**_

The music was cut off before it could go any further as the phone it originated from was answered.

"What do you need done" asked 'Raiden' without preamble. No pleasantries, no small talk, just straight to business.

"_I need you to go into the arboretum and retrieve the little girl hidden there. She is known as number 108 or Kusano, and she is in desperate need of help"_ answered the voice from the other end, distorted by a machine, but obviously feminine.

"Before I take the job there is the matter of my fee…" he said only to be cut off by the other person.

"_You will be paid a sum of one million yen upon completion of the job"_ she said. 'Raiden' snorted in derision.

"I wouldn't wipe my ass with such a paltry sum. My fee and conditions of payment are nonnegotiable" he said.

"_Fine then, name your price"_ she replied a slight edge to her voice.

"Thirteen million, cash, American. Three million broken into increments of one hundred thousand and directly deposited into banks scattered around the world. The rest will be hidden in specific locations in equal amounts upon the completion of the job. Both the banks and the locations will be sent to you via level thirteen encrypted files, which will self destroy ten minutes after they have been opened. After you have placed the money in each location, destroy the knowledge" he said with clipped tones. The woman was silent for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"_Fine. Once you have retrieved number 108 from the Arboretum hand her directly to me. I will be waiting at the northern edge of the fence"_ she said.

"Any known hostiles" he asked.

"_Three confirmed; a scythe wielder, a whip user, and a swordsman, others possible but currently unknown"_ she answered hoping this didn't add to the fee.

"Very well. I will require a day's preparation to ensure I have the needed tools. Will the subject be able to hold out until the completion of my preparations" he asked.

"_Yes. Our sources confirm you likely have two days before number 108 is found"_ she replied.

"Confirmed. This call never happened" he said hanging up the phone. Looking at the time it was still extremely early in the morning, around 4:26 AM. It was about the time he should get up anyways. Shifting his weight to get up he met an unexpected resistance, via weight on his chest. Looking down he could just make out light brown hair and the alabaster skin of Akitsu. She appeared to have shifted during the night with her face now resting in the crook of his neck while her arms encircled his torso, squishing her rather large, bare, soft, breasts into his chest.

He blinked, once…twice…three times before the entire situation started sinking in. He couldn't help but chuckle at just how adorable she looked while snuggling him like a giant teddy bear. But as much as he didn't want to he needed to wake her up so he could begin the day. Gently he shook her shoulder so as not to startle her awake.

"Akitsu chan…Akitsu chan, it's time to wake up" he said just above a whisper making her groan adorably and nuzzle her face further into his neck as she tried to keep from leaving the comfortable spot.

She had never felt so content before. The bed was soft and the covers warm. Then there was her pillow. It was warm to the touch and had a contradictory firm softness that she never wanted to be without. She felt for the first time, what it might be like to be…happy. Sadly the gentle shaking of her shoulder persisted dragging her completely into the waking realm.

She raised her head and looked at 'Raiden' with a sleepy expression, her hair frizzed and sticking up in random directions. Though she was still sleepy she felt better than she had in a long time. The warmth she had been feeling the night before kept growing, but for some reason it felt magnificent to her.

"Well good morning sleepy head" he said with a small chuckle, sending vibrations through her body pleasantly. She looked at him for another second before responding.

"Good…morning" she said through a yawn.

"How did you sleep" he asked as she laid back down on him to try and get comfortable again. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck again trying to find the most comfortable way to lay.

"Want more" she said sleepily tightening her grip on him slightly.

"Really? And here I thought I would make us breakfast" he said a slight teasing to his tone. It didn't help that at that moment the sound of a very angry stomach demanded to be filled. Akitsu, despite all her usual stoicism blushed a deep crimson and glared down at the traitorous organ. The scene caused 'Raiden' to burst into laughter. He sat up pulling Akitsu with him and gently set her back on the bed.

"I'll be back in a few minutes" he said with a smile as he left the room. Akitsu sat back against the headboard as she began to contemplate what was going on with her. Usually nothing bothered her, and nothing before had ever made her blush. Her stomach had grumbled and growled hundreds of times, in front of large crowds to single people. None of it had ever made her feel embarrassed.

Then again, no one and nothing had ever made her feel this warmth. It was more than just the air around her though, or the cloths she wore. Even snuggled under the covers like she currently was it still felt cold. The only thing that made any difference was him. It wasn't just his body heat she had felt in his jacket. But what she just couldn't tell. She couldn't describe why she wanted his approval, why his opinion of her mattered so much to her, or why she wanted to appear as attractive to him as possible. All she knew was that she did want all of those things, and was prepared to do anything to get them.

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'I hope she likes a fairly simple meal' thought 'Raiden' as he pulled out a carton of eggs and a loaf of bread. He immediately got to work pulling out a large skillet that he placed on the front burner of the stove. Turning it to medium he placed a generous glob of butter into the cast iron, tilting it around until the savory substance coated the entire bottom. Once that task was complete he cracked every last one of the dozen and a half eggs he had into the pan. Something in his gut told him he would need a large amount to feed the deceptively petit woman laying in his bed.

As the eggs started to cook he pulled out a knife and cut off four slices of bread from the loaf, and put them into a toaster before cutting off eight more slices to toast after the first four were done. Noticing the eggs were of the right consistency he pulled out a spatula and started mixing them to make scrambled eggs.

In almost no time at all the food was done. Happy with the setup he piled all the food onto two plates and set them both on a tray with a glass of milk and another of orange juice, with a mug of hot coffee. He carefully picked up the tray and with the grace of a dancer walked over to his room and presented the meal to his guest.

"Here you go. Eat up" he said setting the tray on her lap. It turned out his gut was right on the money with the quantity needed, for though she did it with a poise and dignity worth of a queen, it only took her three minutes to completely devour every last crumb of food he brought her. The look of contentment on her face was one he would gladly see often.

"Thank you, for everything" she said with a small blush adorning her face again. It seemed like no matter what she did or said if he was around a blush would begin creeping up on her face. He just chuckled and waved off her gratitude.

"It's no trouble. How about you go and take a relaxing shower while I take care of these. I'll set out some cloths for you and later today we can go shopping to get you some of your own" he said as he picked up the tray despite her protest.

"You made the food, I should clean up."

"Ah, but you're my guest, and as the host it's my job to make you as comfortable as possible" he countered before pointing out where the bathroom was. She relented as he left the room, the heat in her chest rising once again. It had been steadily rising since she had woken up with it spiking at every kind action he did and every little touch. It was getting to the point where it was actually a little painful, making it difficult to breath. She stripped out of the sad excuse of an outfit she wore since she was thrown out of MBI and stepped under the flow of hot water.

The pressure of the water was strong, to the point that it actually stung, but at the same time it felt good, like the stress was being washed away with every droplet that hit her skin. She reached over and picked up the bottle of shampoo trying to read the foreign label but giving up after a moment. There was no real smell to it, but she truthfully thought it was nicer that way. No artificial smell left behind, only a nice clean feeling.

She washed her hair thoroughly making sure to spread the shampoo over every strand. Doing the same with the conditioner after rinsing the suds out. Finally she washed her body carefully lathering the soap so as to clean every inch of her skin. She noted that like the shampoo and conditioner there was no artificial smell that lingered.

She stepped out of the stall and pulled on the towel that hung on the ring beside the door. Not seeing any cloths she walked back to the bedroom only to run into her host as he walked out with some cloths in hand.

'It's like hitting a brick wall' she thought as she fell back, her towel coming undone. Before she could fall down though a pair of arms encircled her waist and pulled her back up into a warm embrace.

"Woah there. That could have been a nasty spill" said 'Raiden' as he gently held her. To Akitsu however it was like a roaring bonfire had grown in her chest. Her heart was constricting painfully as the heat rose to indescribable levels. It was a struggle to get any oxygen to her lungs as her knees gave out and she was supported completely by 'Raiden'.

"Akitsu…Akitsu" he said concern lacing his voice as he lowered her down carefully afraid something serious was happening. Her chest constricted further as she saw his face filled with extreme worry for her as he tried to lay her head down onto a makeshift pillow. Tried as she would not let go of him. All at once she knew what she had to do to stop this. Without any hesitation she gripped his collar and pulled her face up to his.

"Sekirei number 7, Akitsu is yours now and forever, my Ashikabi sama" she said before smashing her lips to his. It took less than a millisecond before he responded to the kiss, kissing back with all the passion he possessed. His tongue gently licking her bottom lip asking for entrance. She moaned into the kiss and complied allowing the larger appendage to slip into her mouth as she reciprocated.

The sound of breaking glass startled the two into separating, just in time to see the mark upon her forehead disappear as wings of ice blue light opened from her back encompassing the entire room behind her.

"**By the ice of my contract, all enemies of my Ashikabi shall be frozen"** she said as if reciting a prayer, the words seemingly infused with more power than any simple verse of the bible.

'Raiden' looked at her as her face became a mask of shock. She quickly got up and ran to the mirror lifting up her bangs to see an unblemished forehead.

"It's…it's gone. It's really gone. IT'S GONE" she yelled in joy as she glomped 'Raiden' happily, not caring at all about her lack of clothing. It actually took him by surprise to the point she was able to make him fall back with her landing on top of him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you" she repeated over and over again giving him a kiss for every thank you. It took several minutes before he was able to calm the excited woman down. She was still sporting a smile that could shame the sun, and she absolutely refused to let go of him, but it wasn't like he had much of a problem with that. She was an absolutely gorgeous woman after all.

"Ok, now that that's out of your system, perhaps you could explain what just happened" he asked hoping to get a grasp on the situation.

"I don't know how, but despite that it should have been impossible, you were able to 'Wing' me. You are my Ashikabi" she said as if it answered everything, which in truth it did. She had already explained the concept of what an Ashikabi was and just what they are to a Sekirei. Despite what MBI thought it was more than just a partner for battle, Ashikabi is the term for a Sekireis' life mate. In other words their husband. So even though he knew what an Ashikabi was, and the fact that they needed to 'Wing' a Sekirei, she had never described HOW the ceremony was carried out.

"So let me get this straight. When we kissed it initiated the ceremony required in order to 'Wing' you, and bound the two of us together essentially in the Sekirei version of marriage" he asked receiving a nod from Akitsu. He sat back and let out a breath of air as once again he learned things that were not entirely welcome. It wasn't that he had anything against Akitsu, just that things were moving faster that he had expected. She barely knew anything about him, but here she had bound herself to him for the rest of her life.

"What if you find out that you don't want to be with me? There are very many things that you don't know about me, most of them not very pleasant" he asked and almost instantly regretted it as a look of horror and depression overcame her once happy face.

"You mean…you…you don't…want me" she asked as tears began accumulating at the corner of her eyes and a look of total dejection took over. Quickly running damage control he pulled her into a tight hug and gently stroked her hair as he tried to come up with the words that wouldn't make things worse.

"No! No that's not what I meant at all. I know that I'm not going to abandon you. But you told me what things were like for you. I know so much about you, both the good and the bad. But you only know so few things about me. Hell you don't even know my name" he said ruefully as she returned the hug and buried her face into the crook of his neck again. It seemed like that was her favorite spot to nuzzle her face into.

"I know all I need to. When a Sekireis' body reacts we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will love the person we bind ourselves with. Our bodies simply cannot lie about the love we feel for our Ashikabi" she replied slightly more calm now. He nodded slowly as he began to see what was going on. Sekirei must have a semi subconscious telepathic/empathetic ability when dealing with a potential Ashikabi. This enabled them to understand the true intentions and even to an extent the true personality of the person they are around. Their bodies then subconsciously react to allow their conscious mind to know that a suitable mate is right in front of them. A useful little trick as it works with each individual personality to find a Sekireis' 'Perfect match'.

"I'm sorry if what I said hurt you. I didn't mean to imply that you didn't love me, I was just trying to understand how you knew so soon after meeting me" he said feeling her nod into his neck.

"So…what is your name" she asked making him break out in chuckles.

"I guess…I'll be honest with you, considering we're effectively married. I…really…have no name. My entire family is in a rather…risky business. It was decided that we would have no real identities to protect ourselves and the Clan. Most of the time we are given an alias to use so we can be identified by our employers, but none of them are actually our names" he explained making her pull back and look at him with wide eyes. He understood her perplexity, when he had first learned that people had actually had names they used every day of their lives it had blown his mind. Ah the naivety of a seven year old.

"What should I call you then? I don't want to use a fake name, but I want to call you something" she asked pulling him from his reminiscing about the past. He thought about her question and was admittedly stumped.

"How about you choose something that describes what I am to you" he said with a small smile. A look of concentration came over her before her eyes widened and a spark of…something flashed across them.

"Dan'na" she said catching him off guard. He just smiled wider and shook his head. It was a word that described what he was to her, and it also was a subtle warning to other women. After all not many women would risk approaching him when someone like Akitsu calls him "Husband".

"Direct and straight to the point, I like it. Now, I think we should probably get you dressed. We can't have you walking around town naked can we," he asked rhetorically as he stood up pulling her with him. Cue another blush. She clutched him a little tighter and buried her face into his chest to hide said blush. It was as her hands rubbed along his back that she noticed something strange.

Her fingers brushed against a long patch of raised, somewhat lumpy, hard skin. As she felt it, she realized that there were similar patches on his front and more on his back. Pulling back slightly she took a closer look at his torso, and noticed several things she had overlooked before. Now that she was actually paying attention Akitsu saw several scars on his chest and arms as well as two tattoos that she had missed.

The tattoos were well done, in her opinion, but they seemed to be for more than decoration. The first one was a tribal dragon with its wings spread out over his heart, done in all black ink. The wings themselves looked almost to be made of black flame (AN: I'll put a link to the picture of the tattoo on my profile). The other tattoo was situated on his right arm. It looked to be some kind of tribal design that went from his elbow to shoulder and onto his back spreading like a wing (AN: look up Burst Angel Jo and you should find an image of the design).

"Like what you see" he asked making her jump as she hadn't realized she was staring.

"Ah…sorry. I was just…" she started before biting her lower lip in a display of indecisiveness.

"Go on. I won't be mad at anything you ask"

"Where did you get your scars, and why the tattoos" she asked in a rush hoping he wouldn't be offended.

"Ah those. Well…the scars came from my training. A sadly unavoidable consequence. As for the tattoos…they came to mark achievements I made. The dragon came with a title from my clan head. It actually became a bit feared by my peers. I was called the Dark Dragon, mostly for how brutal I could be during training. Never really held back much, but my teachers approved. The tribal one on my arm I received for never failing to succeed in my objective. I…don't really feel comfortable talking about that one or the title I received from it" he said slightly turning his head away at the last. Akitsu could feel over their still newly developed bond that there was some shame attached to it, but she didn't pry. He would tell her when he was ready.

"Anyway, we should probably get you dressed so we can go out shopping today. You can't wear my cloths all the time" he said handing her the cloths that had dropped when they collided. Akitsu smiled lightly in thanks and took a look at just what he brought her. It was nothing more than a basic pair of black jeans and a black leather belt to keep them up with and a black long sleeved shirt. The shirt had a design reminiscent of a skull but more sinister.

"Ah, thank you Dan'na. I'll be ready in a moment" she said as he left the room. She slipped the pants on first and looped the belt through before tightening it as much as she could. They still sagged around her hips slightly, but they wouldn't fall off, though she did need to roll up the legs a few times so she wasn't stepping on them all the time. She slipped the shirt over her head and pulled it down past her stomach letting it fall down to her mid thighs. Instead of rolling the sleeves back she just pushed them back, the cuffs tightening enough to keep them from falling off. True it looked like she was wearing accordions for sleeves, but it would have looked odd either way.

"All ready" he asked as she stepped out of the bathroom. Even in his overly large cloths she still looked stunning. She nodded and stepped over to him a small smile making its way to her face. She hugged his arm enveloping it in her generous bust. Just as they were about to exit the apartment both of them were startled by a loud fanfare that came from the TV.

"_Congratulations! You have just Winged your first Sekirei. This action has started you upon a glorious path to the higher skies above"_ crowed the man who appeared on the screen after the fanfare. His hair was white and messy. His face was angular with glasses that seemed to reflect the light in a way that seemed to hide his eyes. A manic grin adorned his face as he seemed to relish in the moment. It took only an instant to recognize the man in front of them.

"Hiroto Minaka. What are you doing in my TV, and give me one good reason why I shouldn't sue you for spying upon me" he asked the obviously crazed man with a twitch to his brow.

"_Ah, 'Raiden Makiboshi'. You are a very difficult man to get a hold of. It took my staff more than ten minutes to break that encryption you had on your information. Considering they can give me the information of any politician in five seconds really says something. But as for why I'm calling, it's to enlighten you on the great journey you are about to embark upon. It will be a tale of trial, love, and possibly heartbreak. A true romance…"_ the happy man was cut off.

"You mean the glorified genocide you call a Battle Royal. Yeah yeah, I know all about it. Sekirei, Ashikabi, Winging, Norito, fight to the death, the whole shebang. Save your breath, and my time and get to the point. I have better things to do than talk with a mental ward escapee, Señior Crazypants" he interrupted, irritation clear in his voice as Minaka seemed to deflate at those words and Akitsu giggled slightly.

"_Well that's just rude. Since you seem to know so much I can only assume that your little bird has told you. Fine, but you should also know that the entire plan is meant to be secret. Keep it to yourself or things will become…unpleasant"_ Minaka warned before cutting the connection with a pout. 'Raiden' snorted in derision at the last comment, as if it didn't bother him.

"Shall we be going Akitsu" he asked offering his arm again. She smiled and took it as both left the apartment.

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Alright that chapter is done. I seriously hate my brain. I swear it only takes an instant and I can develop an idea like this. Oh well. I hope you all enjoyed my latest monstrosity, and ask that you NOT throw rotten fruit, rocks, shurikens, kunai, giant snakes, battle axes, chimeras, nuts, or couches at me. Please review.


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